The Daily Lives of High School Farmers
by The Purple Kit-Kat
Summary: Harmonica High School of Castanet Island is a little different than other schools on the mainland. For one, it's a school devoted to those who want to go into the agricultural business. And, for another, it has Sakurono Hikari in it. / title subject to change at any time. summary not really all that accurate ;;


_Akari, in a manner of speaking, was a complete master at focus. Regardless of subject, regardless of whatever ruthless teacher she had, she rocked the tests each year because according to her it was easy if only you learned how to focus. Whenever she read a book, she'd read the whole thing in one sitting and then sit back and think about the story as a whole that she had absorbed. When she paced, she paced in perfect ovals and at the same exact speed in the same exact place. When she studied, she went subject by subject in order of class and stayed glued on one item until she got it one hundred percent. And she currently had a goal in life, her main focus in all she did at school._

_ Her sister Hikari begged to differ. But perhaps that was because she simply could not focus on whatever she did. Her ears heard everything. Her heart felt every emotion. Her hands could not refrain from staying in one place. Whenever she tried to read a book, she could never end up finishing it because she had to switch positions so many times and her ears heard so many things that she just had to think about instead of the book with all its words. When she paced, she paced in a random, crisscrossing line that took her all over the place and at differing speeds depending on how fast her brain was working. When she studied (which was not all that often), she hopped from subject to subject and moved on when she just barely got the basics and usually ended up accomplishing nothing at all in the end. And she still had trouble filling out the end-of-year forms that asked her about her future._

_ One of these sisters was better-suited to school than the other. So, one of these sisters' homeroom teacher decided to try something new for her high school years._

_ "A boarding school?" said the unsuited-for-school sister. It seemed like a good idea to her. Her home life wasn't exactly the most likeable situation in the world, and she liked to try new things anyways. "Sounds interesting."_

_ "A boarding school?" said the suited-for-school sister. It seemed like a terrible idea to her. Did the homeroom teacher even know how easily her sister got lost? It would be better for them to just stick together through high school. "No way!"_

_ "Girls," said the homeroom teacher reassuringly. "Just hear me out." He explained the school he had in mind to the sisters, and was met with mixed results._

_ "An agricultural school?" asked the unsuited-for-school sister. "Are you sure, Mr. Mayors?"_

_ "An agricultural school?" asked the suited-for-school sister. "Are you serious, Mr. Mayors?"_

_ "Yes," said the homeroom teacher without missing a beat. One sister looked thoughtful. The other sister looked exasperated._

_ They brought the issue down to their parents. Their mom was all for it, though she was obliged to remind them in a quiet voice that their father was the one who decided everything, however, so the sisters had to wait until then. _

_ But their father worked late, and the longer the unsuited-for-school sister thought about the school, the more she wanted to go. She decided that no matter his decision, she would find some way to ensure that she went._

_ Her father disagreed, of course. And usually that would be that and the argument would never be brought up again. But up until the deadline was two days away, the unsuited-for-school sister passive-aggressively argued her case until finally, their father grew so annoyed with her that he told her to do what she wanted and not to bother him with it. _

_ So she did._

* * *

Hikari is barely touching the cracked leather of the bus seat, her face pressed eagerly against the glass. She's been like this for nearly half an hour now, ever since the bus driver guy told her that they were nearly there, and though her seatmate griped about her actions for a bit he's now sound asleep and drooling in the spot beside her.

She kind of wants to take a picture, but she's too absorbed in trying to be the first to see the school coming up the road to take a moment and do so.

The bus hits a bump, and with a yelp Hikari is thrown back into her seat. The bump startles her neighbor as well, waking abruptly as he groans. He catches sight of her staring and narrows his eyes suspiciously.

"What do you want?" he gripes. Hikari wonders how he's doing that thing with his eyes that makes her feel an inch tall, because her dad does the same thing when she misbehaves. Except that his is much, much worse by an enormous margin.

"We're still not there," she says simply, and frowns a little when he looks taken aback. "Mr. Bus Driver said we'd be there like an hour ago and we're not _there_ yet!"

He seems at a loss for words. "Oh," he says after some time, and turns away from her and glares at the guy across the aisle, who is reading. She wonders if he knows the guy, but then realizes that he must because why would he be glaring like that at someone he doesn't know?

She pokes his arm, and he turns and glares at her instead. He looks even grouchier, but Hikari pays no attention to it as she asks. "Do you know him?"

The boy follows her finger and turns to the boy across the aisle, then looks back to her. "No," he grumps.

Hikari tips her head. "But you were glaring at him."

"So?" The boy yawns and gives her a sideways look. "Doesn't mean I know him."

The bus bumps again, and the boy curses. Hikari realizes that she actually really likes his eyes, mean though they look. They are a sweet blue, cloudy and perfect, and – actually, they don't even look blue. They're really more of a purple, which is odd, because literally nobody has purple eyes. It's just not something that happens naturally.

The boy seems to feel her staring, so he turns back to her only to recoil in surprise at how close she is to his face. "W-what the hell are you doing?"

"Your eyes," says Hikari in reply. "Are you wearing contacts?"

"I – no!" the boy manages to compose himself. "Where I'm from, we don't exactly have access to contacts."

"That's your real eye color then?"

It's an innocent question, but as soon as he hears it the boy puts his guard up like a wall and his beautiful strange eyes suddenly turn to ice. "So what if it is?" he spits. Hikari can't tell why, but it feels sort of like a bridge is about to burn here if she's not careful.

"You don't see that color every day," she says honestly, and the boy sits there silently as if waiting for the rest. "I think they're beautiful."

He looks surprised again, and the ice melts from his eyes. He is still very tense, though, and Hikari thinks he won't be fully relaxed until they're friends, so she might as well start now.

She asks his name, and he turns away and mutters, "It's Chihaya." He pauses, as if contemplating pros and cons. "Yours?"

"Hikari," she replies cheerily. Her mouth opens to ask another question, but she's interrupted by the bus's loud squealy brakes as it shudders to a stop. She forgets what she was going to say and throws herself against the window excitedly, desperately trying to get a peek at the the school she was going to be staying at. After all, it must be something to see if she had to ride the train all the way to the port, sail to an island, and take a long bus ride up into the country to get there, right?

"Oi," Chihaya calls. His tone is indifferent again, and Hikari turns to see him and the rest of the students on board filing in a somewhat orderly fashion off the bus. "Hurry up already."

"Oops," she squeaks, and swipes her backpack on her way off the bus. She can't say she's excited, exactly, because she'll miss her mom and sister, but she is somewhat looking forward to this new experience.

The crisp spring air is fresher than she had ever felt it to be before. Giggling softly, Hikari clutches the collar of her green hoodie closer to her neck in an attempt to block out the cold some more as she joins the rest of the group, who mingle among themselves awaiting orders.

Eventually a teacher comes over to their group and bows deeply, shocking everyone with his vibrant purple hair and gold streaks. He straightens, and everyone seems surprised at how young he is.

"Hello everyone! Welcome to Harmonica High!" he says in a flamboyant tone that matches his flashy appearance, toying with his green-tipped hair. "Today we will be doing a bit of an initiation, so I'd like to ask all of you to pair up with someone for our tour of the school. My name is Mr. Koto, but please do call me Julius. Once everyone's gotten a partner, we'll be leaving. Remember, Harmonica High is a very large place! Be sure to pick someone who looks like they won't make you want to kill them afterward!"

The class lets out a collectively dry laugh.

Hikari struggles her way though the crowd as he speaks, and discovers Chihaya standing partnerless with his hands jammed in his pockets. She waves to him as the rest of the first-years around them chitter and begin paring up. "Hey! Chihaya! Let's be partners!"

He turns towards her call, and waves half-heartedly as she makes her way to his side. "Did you hear me? I asked if we could be partners," she repeats, in case he hadn't.

"I heard you the first time," he says somewhat coldly, rolling his lovely eyes sarcastically. "Well, I suppose we should, seeing as there's nobody else for us to pick left now." He glances at the boy he had been glaring at earlier, who still has his book out with a bored expression on his face, currently pairing with a very interested pink-haired girl. ""I mean, nobody who fits that weird teacher's advice, anyways."

"Eh? Is that what you thought?" Hikari frowns and latches onto his arm as if Chihaya were her date to a rich party. "But I asked you because you're my friend, Chi-chan."

Chihaya whips his head around and stares at her like her face is melting off. "Fuh – _friend_? We met a minute ago on the bus! And don't you think 'Chi-chan' is a little too casual here?"

"Is it?" Hikari stops to consider this. "Then just Chi is fine, right?"

He groans. "Hikari, that's even more casual than "Chi-chan ..."

"But Chiii-chaaaan, Chihaya's too loooooong," she whines jokingly. She just really wants an excuse to call him intimate things. Chihaya splutters, seems to realize this, and smirks. (And as Akari would have put it, it made him look like a _drop-dead sexy piece of hot ass._)

Hikari squeaks in surprise as he roughly grasps her by the chin, squishing her cheeks in the process of doing so, and leans in close.

"Repeat after me, Princess," he says in a falsely severe tone. "_Chihaya_."

"Chi ..." Hikari blinks and pouts, made to look even more pathetic by her smooshed cheeks. "Chi-chan."

She has a staring contest with his one-in-a-million eyes until he releases her and shakes his head. "You're hopeless."

"Thanks, you think so too?" She laughs. "That's partly why I'm here, you know."

Her new friend looks at her closely, as if judging whether or not he had taken that line seriously. She had, incidentally, but it seems he didn't see it because he looks away slowly and lets out a good-natured sigh, blinking once he notices their initiation teacher beginning to hush the group and count heads.

"Everyone has a partner now?" calls Mr. Koto – or rather, Julius – as he flips his hair. "Excellent. We'll be moving on then! And don't worry about your luggage, as it will be transported to the dorms while we are touring Harmonica High. Now, if you'd please ..." Julius executes an elegant 180-degree almost-twirl and beckons to the new class "... follow me!"

And the new first-year group going into Harmonica Agricultural High School patiently obliges.

* * *

_a little short here, but this was only meant to be an introductory chapter anyways. i promise on my laptop's remaining battery life that the chapters will be longer from here on out, ok?_

_i had some trouble writing julius. to be honest, i don't have much interest in him (though i do find him fabulous), but i decided to put him in as that one weird teacher because i thought it would be funny. also, i apologize in advance for any characters here that are written ooc because this is my first harvest moon story and im still learning the ropes ;;_

_partly a crossover with gin no saji, partly inspired by gin no saji. also known as silver spoon. i strongly implore you all to watch and read it._

_- pkk_


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